The Flames of Resistance
Chapter 2
As Gary and Tracy stood, overlooking the damaged drop ship, an exasperated look spread across both of their faces. "The engine is gone. Without the right tools, I can't save it," Tracy said sadly. "But we can't leave it here either," he added.
Gary nodded, "Is there any way we can carry it?" he asked. Tracy shook his head.
"Not unless you want to haul it out by tying it to the bottom of another transport. But-"Tracy was cut off.
"That would weigh the transport down too much, it wouldn't make it," Gary said. Tracy nodded. "What if we sent you a team of engineers as well as the tools you'll need?"
"Then yes, I could get this baby back up and working," Tracy said. Gary nodded, put a hand on Tracy's shoulder, and with a worried look, stared into Tracy's eyes. The researcher nodded at his commanding officer. "Don't worry about me, just get the kids home."
"I'll leave your unit here to help watch your back and repair damages to the city," Gary said before walking off. Dawn stood waiting for him.
"So?" she asked.
"The transport is dead, Tracy volunteered to stay behind and wait for an engineering squad to help him repair it. We should leave Red Team behind to watch and help rebuild the city, the damage here is not as bad as I expected it to be, but we can't just leave it like this," Gary said. Dawn nodded in approval.
"And the kids?" she asked.
"Priority one, we have to get them back home," Gary said. Again Dawn nodded in approval.
"Our younger selves are itching to fight," Dawn said cautiously. "Should we let them?"
"I think that decision would be best left to them," Gary said.
"But-" Dawn started.
"Ash and May need to learn how to become leaders again, they have to build the Resistance. So, I suggest we let them go," Gary spoke.
"But Gary," Dawn started before Gary interrupted her.
"Alex wants them to lead, so we, as temporary commanders of this army have to make sure their up for the task. We can't just shirk them of all the hardships and experiences they had experience in building the Resistance." Dawn stopped in her steps, staring down at the ground, lost in thought before quickly catching up to Gary.
"And Alex?" she asked. "What about him?"
"Until we know more about his shadow and how to cure it, we have to keep him safe, so I propose we keep him at HQ," Gary spoke. The two of them continued through the streets, watching as life returned to the once battle torn city as many of their troops began helping in reconstruction efforts.
"HQ?" Dawn asked, a little perplexed. "Wouldn't the research lab in Orre be better?"
"Do you think Cipher would just let him stay there?" Gary asked. "Their whole objective for this fight had been to capture him, it would be best to keep him in our most protected facility until such times as we can purify his shadow."
"And if we can't?" Dawn asked. "Humans have never had shadows before, it is impossible, we've even tested to make sure it couldn't happen."
"But it did …they managed to make it happen," Gary said with hesitation evident in his voice.
"C-can I be alone for a minute?" Alex asked suddenly as his parents as well as his friends had crowded around him to make sure he didn't disappear again. The desperation and fear in his voice shook a few of them.
"Sure, but don't be gone for too long," Max spoke with authority in his voice. It was awkward, to say the least, that his commanding officer had stepped down, and was now near the same level as himself but Max didn't let it show. "Gary called for a meeting in a couple of hours," he added.
Alex nodded in understanding before disappearing behind a few trees, his faithful Gardevoir never leaving his side. "And there he goes again," Blue mumbled exasperatedly as she still watched the direction he went in. Yellow put a hand on her shoulder, causing the brunette to jump before giving her a smile.
"Blue, don't worry, he's not going anywhere," Yellow said. Hearing her own words from just the night before caused memories of the fight to resurface. Blue shuddered silently. "What's wrong Blue?"
"Nothing, just that creep from last night," Blue said. "He treated us like a couple of kids, and when we battled, he didn't even give an order…" her thoughts trailed off.
"But you won," Yellow tried to cheer her up. "Alex is still her with us and that "creep" is gone, and you captured Deoxys!" she said with an encouraging smile.
"No, I didn't win, I was "saved,"" Blue replied. "Alex saved me again by pouring whatever energy he had left into Gardy's last attack, and then the two of them used it to power up Gallade's blades."
Max stopped in his tracks and turned to look back at the two talking kids, Alex had joined their group while Ash and May had left to go and help rebuild the city, effectively making Max babysit the kids, technically under orders from Gary to guard the kids, but still babysitting never the less. "That's what team work is based off of, balancing each others' strengths and weaknesses as well as combination attacks. What may have seemed like a "save" for you may have actually been the original plan, but based on what I've heard, I see it a little differently," Max said. The two kids turned to look at him. "Alex was depending on you to get Gallade in position just in time, if you hadn't then that Psycho-boost would have terribly damaged Gardevoir. I've seen the power of that attack and Alex wouldn't have used it unless he truly trusted and depended on you."
"Psycho-boost?" Yellow asked, completely confused.
"Psycho-boost is the most powerful psychic type attack there is, and basically impossible to teach. It requires the user to put forth all of their energy into one solid attack, during which time the user cannot move and is completely vulnerable to attack. One hit, and the concentration lost, causing the attack to damage the user instead. The last time Gardevoir used psycho-boost was in the Battle for Goldenrod when he used it to force Cipher to retreat."
Blue remembered the Battle for Goldenrod, Almost all of the Resistance fighters converged to take the city, the capitol of Jhoto. Furthermore, when they heard that all of the local Cipher forces where converging to take the city back, as well as calling forces from the Orange Islands, all available hands were called to defend the city. Herself, as well as Yellow and Lucas had to stay behind with the small amount of remaining forces on the island to stay safe.
"Last time, it was used to create a large gravitational field, crushing everything caught within it," Max added. "It left a bad taste in all of our mouths, but while I don't think Alex forgave himself for it, I am thankful he did it."
"That sounds like a really powerful attack," Yellow commented.
"If it's so powerful, why doesn't he use it more often?" Lucas asked. "I mean if we could use it effectively, then it would be a serious trump card against Cipher!" Lucas looked around for support but instead found Max's hard gaze.
"Something as powerful as Psycho-boost obviously has its own downsides doesn't it?" Yellow asked.
With a nod Max spoke. "After the attack was finished, Alex fell into a coma that lasted two months, Gardevoir for almost twice that," he said. "You want to turn it into a weapon?" he asked Lucas, who looked away in shame.
"I-I didn't know that, I'm sorry," Lucas gloomed.
"In any order, we warned him to never use psycho-boost unless it was absolutely necessary," Max spoke up. Max turned around and kept walking, but as he walked he could still feel the questioning looks from the three kids. "Psycho-boost, if used too many times, or without enough energy, will eat away at your aura. The two of them work as a team with each other, Alex providing more energy to Gardevoir allowing her to use tremendous power."
"Aura?" Blue asked.
"The "life source" of both people and pokemon, according to some," Max explained. "I remember back when I was a kid, when Ash, May, Brock, and myself were traveling around Kanto, we got mixed up with an ancient Lucario who taught us a little bit about aura."
Alex found a ledge, overlooking the vast valley that was the home of the Sinnoh League's Stadium and the town that surrounded it. Taking a seat on the ledge, letting his feet dangle over the ledge, Alex tossed his head back and let the cool wind calmly wash over his face.
Gardevoir silently came up behind him and sat down as well, using her psychic powers to make sure that a strong gust, or a sudden rock slide, or any other sort of unfortunate action didn't knock her master off of the ledge.
"Are you alright?" she asked him. At first Alex didn't reply, but a frown etched across his face.
"Just thinking," he said quietly. When Gardevoir raised a questioning eyebrow, Alex continued. "About what I'm going to do from here, how I'm going to improve my use of aura, how we can stop Cipher once and for all, how to get rid of this shadow…" his voice trailed off.
"Actually, I need to talk to you about that," Gardevoir said softly. When Alex turned to look at her, she spoke. "Why didn't you tell me about it?" Her voice went from soft to harsh in an instant, as a parent would berate a child.
"I couldn't-"
"Nonsense! I could have helped you contain it longer!"
"If I left the connection open then you'd be-"
"I would be fine, but you!"
"Gardy-"Alex continued to be cut off.
"I would have never let you use the aura sword if I had known; it could have made you lose concentration of your shadow."
"Gardy…" Alex persisted, his voice becoming louder.
"And then you poured so much energy into the psycho boost attack how could you have?"
"Gardy!" Alex shouted in both his mind and with his voice. The embrace pokemon flinched before staying quiet, allowing the boy to speak.
"That psycho-boost was absolutely necessary in order to defeat Deoxys, but I kept all of my energy into keeping the shadow from coming out, I fought it ever since I woke up after the Canalave incident. How could I tell you? How could I tell you that I became a monster?"
"You are not a monster!" she interrupted him instantly, but stopped when he brought a hand up.
"I felt terrible that I had lost control, I played right into their hands, and "he" just used Emily to make me snap," Alex said. "By the time the battle was about to finish, I had devoted all of my stamina to the shadow, I had no strength to spare."
"Then…!" Gardevoir shot her gaze up from the grass where she had been looking to simply see her trainer smiling sadly. "You used aura," she realized. She should have been able to tell the difference between aura and his regular strength. 'How did I…' she thought to herself.
"And then, not only did I put everyone else in danger when I became a shadow, but I couldn't break it even if I tried; I couldn't even save myself," Alex said sadly.
"But?" Gardy asked.
"Mom and Dad saved me," Alex said. "Somehow they came and broke my shadow for me. I don't know how they did, but they allowed me to put a lot of issues to rest." Alex turned his gaze up to the clear blue sky. "I was finally able to accept who I was, not some rabid Rattata in a nest of Eevee."
"I had a right to life, and that they loved me, but…" his voice trailed off. "I could do so much more! If they could see me right now, they'd probably roll over in their graves. They said they were proud of me, but how can they be? I've fallen so far that I've let my own friends and family get hurt and die to fix my stupid mistakes."
Gardevoir's glance turned cold. "Don't speak of such nonsense! You've not fallen anywhere! You are the same now as you were back before they died," she told him.
"Is that a good thing?" he asked suddenly, all remorse in his voice lost, refilled with determination. Alex stood and looked directly at Gardevoir. "All this time I've thought I was a burden to everyone, my parents, the Resistance, everyone. That's why I wanted to do everything solo, so that no one else would get hurt, even if it meant I wouldn't be coming back…" Alex said as he turned to look back at the stadium. "I thought I was the one holding all of the cards, that by coming alone, I could sneak into the city and fight him one-on-one."
"How wrong I was; I was prepared to die, and I would have done so gladly so long as I took him down with me," Alex continued, his gaze once again falling to the ground. Gardevoir was about to yell at him some more but he interrupted. "I was prepared to sacrifice myself, but then my parents made me realize something. They made me realize that I had nothing to fight for, other than my own worth. They gave me worth, even when I never knew it, but now?"
"What do you fight for?" Alex suddenly asked Gardevoir. "That is what I ask myself now. I my parents fought for me, died for me, I have to make their sacrifice count! I can't just throw away my life, otherwise their loss would have been in vain. So here now, I swear on my life that I will stop Cipher, I will cure this shadow of mine, and I will make that "Grand Master" pay for all of the suffering that he's caused! I will protect those who are dear to me, I will not let them sacrifice themselves for me!" Alex said with determination as he looked towards Gardevoir. His fist clenched and his face showed strong determination. Gardevoir couldn't help but smile.
Gardevoir was startled when the boy pulled a small knife from his pocket, and with it cut his hand. Red hot blood flowed slowly in between his fingers as he clenched his fist. "I vow," Alex started. "I will end this war, and I will protect everyone! Whether from me, or Cipher, or any other force that may wish this world harm, I vow on my life, with this blood as proof that I will not fail!" He unclenched his fist, allowing the blood to fall to the ground with the wind. 'I will not fail! I cannot fail! He told himself as he watched the blood fall.
Gardevoir, feeling that her trainer's actions were both a little bold and rather foolish instantly began healing his self-inflicted wound the moment he unclenched his fist. "Are you sure? That's a big promise to keep," she teased.
"More sure than anything," Alex replied with a small smile. "Come on, Emily will probably start looking for us soon if we don't go back," he added with an exasperated sigh. The moment he turned to face Gardevoir however, his mind suddenly went blank and his vision dark… then a flash
Symbols flashed across his vision like he had never seen before. The scrolling symbols looked like a language he had never seen or heard of before, yet at the same time looked vaguely familiar for some reason. Images of a massive battle across a massive plain at a mountain side filled his vision, people and pokemon, fighting together and against each other. It was something he had never seen before.
The next thing he knew, he felt the sensation of falling, as well as the wind rushing past his body.
So ends Chapter 2, Don't worry folks, things are just getting warmed up…
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